Green Bay Packers ( 10 - 4 )
[list]Total Offense = 21st
Passing Offense = 26th
Rushing Offense = 9th

Total Defense = 17th
Passing Defense = 10th
Rushing Defense = 22nd

Points For = 24.8 (10th)
Points Against = 18.9 (5th)[/list]




Arizona Cardinals ( 12 - 2 )
[list]Total Offense = 1st
Passing Offense = 3rd
Rushing Offense = 6th

Total Defense = 7th
Passing Defense = 16th
Rushing Defense = 4th

Points For = 31.8 (2nd)
Points Against = 19.2 (6th)[/list]

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Winning time of possession and timely turnovers are what I am hopeful for. A blowout is what I am afraid of.

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The 3 things I hope we can accomplish against the Cards.

1. Get the run game going.

2. Develop a short pass attack with the odd deep route to keep the field stretched.

3. Pressure Carson so he doesn't have time to exploit the middle of the field.

I have confidence we can win this game. I also have confidence we can absolutely get the shit kicked out of us. We win this game the last week of the season may not matter if Seattle is secured in the 5th seed as they likely play to get/stay healthy for the playoffs and play it safe week 17.

Sadly the middle of the field is open 90% of the time, pass rush or not. This will not change unless Dom schemes to fix it, or at least minimize the damage. Tight man coverage on the outside, put safety over the middle - problem solved. It is the most frustrating when you see it wide open on 3rd down - when the priority should be taking away the easy completion.

I want to say first, this is NOT 2010. That being said, I looked back at the Week 16 matchup the Packers had 2010. They were coming off back to back losses one to the Lions where Aaron Rodgers was concussed and then the Patriots with Matt Flynn.

Here's the matchup the Packers (8-6) playing against Giants (9-5).
http://www.packershome.com/forum/posts/m152457--OFFICIAL--New-York-at-Green-Bay 

The similarities are kind of neat, but also irrelevant of course.

2010 Packers OFF 10th vs Giants DEF 13th
2010 Packers DEF 1st vs Giants OFF 6th

2015 Packers OFF 10th vs Cardinals DEF 6th
2015 Packers DEF 5th vs Cardinals OFF 2nd


I mention this is irrelevant, so why mention it at all? Good question and the answer is that the Giants game is when Aaron Rodgers flipped on the "I am a bad bad man" elite quarterback switch. It was at a time when no one really thinking about the Packers being a Super Bowl threat. After the dismantling of the Giants, that is when people started going, whoa, the Packers might be for real.

Just something to think about.

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If the defense can limit the cardinals I'll start to believe this team can make a run regardless of their offensive struggles. Any team with a legit D can make a run but with Dom I'm fully expecting a complete epic meltdown in some important game along the way so it's hard to have much confidence without the offense rolling. This game will say a lot about the team IMO

The defense is for real, but it can't hold up for an entire game with no offensive support against a decent offense. Packers need to put up at least 30 to eek this one out.

I don't see us winning this one.
I HOPE I am wrong.

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The defense is greater than the sum of it's parts. Why the offense isn't is a matter of conjecture.

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We got this. This team will show up ready to play this week and will kick some ass, surprising everyone. Mike will have something special ready and the guys will be focused.

They may shit themselves all over the field against Minnesota the next week, but we'll win THIS one. Even if we don't win, I'm predicting a solid performance. (Not to jinx us of course.)

PREDICTION: We will win this game and position ourselves for #2 seed. Everything will fall into place, and it will end up depending on us beating the Vikings. But we will shit ourselves and fall to #3 seed on some late 4th quarter ugly fluke melt down plays.

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